Pundit reaction to Richardson pick

Here is some initial reaction from some draft pundits to Seattle’s pick of Colorado receiver Paul Richardson:

Mike Mayock, NFL Network: “Pure speed. Think of a poor man’s DeSean Jackson. He’s about six feet, about 175 pounds, Paul Richardson flies. He runs bubble screens, double moves, outside the number routes, but he absolutely can take the lid off of a defense. Keep in mind, Seattle won a Super Bowl with Percy Harvin who they gave up a third round pick to get, and a bunch of free agent guys except for Golden Tate. Jermaine Kearse, a free agent, Doug Baldwin is a free agent, they needed a pedigree in this room and they just got a bunch of speed.”

Mel Kiper, ESPN: “So they went for the anti-beast in Paul Richardson, one of the smallest guys available in the entire draft. He weighed in at the combine at 175 pounds, and that was about 13 pounds heavier than his playing weight at Colorado. He’s been bragging recently that he’s bulked up to 183. He makes some of the spectacular catches that you see on tape, but he drops an awful lot of balls. He’s still developing, he’s a young receiver, but I think he’s one of the best natural route runners in this class. He can explode off of the line of scrimmage, he’s great acceleration, and he’s got the hips, getting in and out of breaks. I think he’s going to be a good route runner at the next level, and if he improves his route running, he has a chance to be a real different maker Well you wonder if that weight gain will affect his blazing speed. He ran a 4.40 at the combine, the third fastest of any wide receiver.”

Bill Polian, ESPN: “I see a guy with great speed, a guy with average hands, and a guy most importantly is awfully slight, and that worries me. Little guys have a hard time, no matter how fast in the NFL, and he’s awfully slight.”